Shanghai a World Problem: Mr. Koteney's New Book on How'
It Came to Its Present Existence: Ratepayers" as an Independent Body The following article has been suggested by & reading Mr, Kotenev's new work, whic' referred to in our Notes a1 Comments, It is in no sense a review, but is of particular interest when read in conjunction with the recent views expressed by the "Daily Telegrap!
Rand other home newspapers regarding the possible future of foreign concessions in China.
Tt has recently become" evident, that the status' of the foreign set-
The danger arising from politics! intrigue was foreseen more than tlements and concessions in China will not be decided by arms, nor by, any arbitrary act on the part of the Cantonese Government. We are swiftly approaching a new International Conference, which will have to' solve the problems raised by the apparent readiness of the Treaty Powers to renounce the hitherto} exclusive rights enjoyed by their nationals.
If certain of these rights, or s0- called privileges, really stand in the way of China's progress, if they hinder her peaceful relations with] the foreigner, they must go the of all outworn doctrines. "But. while we are the last to oppose the abroga. ion of obsolete treaty provisions, which in the light of modern political and social tendencies may have ceased to serve their end—the' preservation of peace and goodwill, feel bound. to emphasize that many of these privileges are p vileges in theory only. They have in the course of years lost their Jone-time exclusiveness until they Thave become the basis of the eomrelat peoperity and. social comity of Oriental and Occidental alike, The Land Regulations Foremost among these principles which have grown out of privileges fare the various Land Regulations, 70 years ago by the British Consul of Shanghai. To quote from Mr. [Kotenev's wor!
Ta 1854, when the id Land Regula EEG ES let cee th betes SSpatie et" protecting Welt without eS
assistance Sioa ree ers Sera eae cee Fen ern ats mae chad tat Earn wee Wes Gee fines deen omaos og ln'force, contain the slightest hint of the rinkt of Treaty Powers of the! Diplomatic "Representatives in CHina alter their provinces, Inereate creas the power' Sested in Canc without "the consent of. the
the present the Land" Remulatios ice Met and resent the Land' Resuiat the foreign ratepayers as and particularly the Land Regela- for tions of the International Settlement of Shanghai. Any organic change in them without due regard to the economic and historical reasons which gave them birth would jeopardize those Sino-foreign relations which have taken the greater part of a century to build up, and would Incidentally ruin the centre of China's infant industry.
The North and the South will sooner or later settle their dissen._ sions. The troops protecting the lives, and incidentally the property of various foreign nations, will go their way. The solution of the complicated problem of the adminis. tration of the settlements in China will then be left to the of various countries and even more varying schools, whose interests are not infrequently adverse to interests of the foreign commu ties. They may well prove to be unsympathetic to this community' fas a body, which is "neither Briti 'Anivrican, Japanese, nor any other nationality, even including Chinese, who have,' not than any other nation, enjoyed liberty and safety] under our local executive." The unique status of Shanghai will then form the subject of heated debates) and important decisions, and its destiny may pitilessly be sacrificed fon the rocks of international politics) and competition.
Stronger Than Diplomats Avstudy of Mr, A. M. Kotenes's new work ("Shanghai: Its Municipality and the Chinese") suggests! to the reader that the foreign community of Shanghai, in its munici-ipal council, is morally far stronger than any combination of diplomats in Peking. It is not concerned with politics. Its weight and authority in the eyes of the Chinese people is based on principles of equity—the equity of commerce, and its maintenance is independent of the political power or social doctrine of any of the countries whose citizens form its heterogene-_ ous population.
In his analysis of the legal] status of the foreign community of Shanghai, Mr. Koteney states that "the Municipal Council as a body is deprived of the privilege of direct intercourse with the Chinese authorities, but is nevertheless independent' by virtue of its charter." The history of foreign self-government in Shanghai is, in hi continual chain of more or less successful endeavours on the pert of the ratepayers' represents ers on Monday it was decided to tives to berate the foreign com: munity from dependence upon unsteady and shifthig! international polities. el" reeslations are based on the princeton "of the Treaticy, which they
diforanee of" which from ah atate intereatianat treats, ten rae ter
treaty ili shat "ie requires, tu Seder 06 badome binding up ect to its" provisions, the tio" provisions.
rareable Convent of, the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.